Birds hit plane taking off from John Wayne

An American Airlines plane out of John Wayne Airport on its way to Dallas was diverted to Los Angeles International Airport after it collided with three birds shortly after takeoff around 7:30 a.m. Saturday.

The birds' collision with the Boeing 737's starboard engine forced airport officials to close the airport's runway for about 30 minutes while workers checked it for bird remains and parts that may have come off the airplane, said Jenny Wedge, spokeswoman for John Wayne Airport.

Birds can sometimes get sucked into engines when planes take off, Wedge said.

American 634 landed safely at LAX at 7:49 a.m., Ian Gregor, a spokesman with the Federal Aviation Administration, wrote in an email.

Bird strikes are rare at John Wayne with only one other happening in the last year involving an arriving flight, Wedge said.

Wedge said the flight was probably diverted to Los Angles instead of returning to John Wayne because LAX has a larger runway for pilots to maneuver in case of an emergency, and it's an American Airlines hub so the plane could be repaired on site.

The passengers, who were on their way to Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, were put on another flight to Dallas after arriving at LAX, Wedge said.

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